Community News: Mid-City

COUNTRY CLUB PARK : Bill Curbing Group Homes to Be Discussed

Representatives of Assemblyman Kevin Murray (D-Los Angeles) will meet with residents Monday to discuss his Assembly bill to limit the number of group homes in an area by placing them under local jurisdiction.

The group homes include drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers and halfway houses. Some Country Club Park residents have complained that their neighborhood, with its large, older homes, has drawn more than its share of group homes.

Resident Katherine Miller said she knows of at least four group homes in the area and is afraid that vacancies are going to attract more. Many residents say they are disturbed by the high rate of turnover among the homes' clients.

"You get transients coming in and out all the time," said Mildred Lee, who lives next to a rehabilitation home. "Sometimes they're really noisy."

State law now allows group homes no closer than 500 feet apart. Murray's bill would allow local officials to regulate how they are zoned.

The meeting is sponsored by the Country Club Park Neighborhood Assn. It will be held at 7 p.m. in the chauffeur's quarters of the landmark Milbank Mansion, 1214 S. Van Ness Ave.